UPDATE 3-PerkinElmer 2nd qtr profit up, keeps full-year forecast

Aug 2 (Reuters) - PerkinElmer Inc reported
higher-than-expected second quarter profit on Thursday as solid
demand for its scientific and environmental products in the
United States and emerging markets offset declines in Europe.

Bucking a trend seen with some of its peers that had to pull
back on full-year forecasts, PerkinElmer maintained its 2012
outlook for earnings of $2.00 to $2.05 per share, excluding
items, and for organic revenue growth in mid-single digit range.

"You've got a little bit of a headwind with the strength of
the dollar and despite that, we're still holding our guidance
for the year," Chief Executive Robert Friel told Reuters in a
telephone interview.

The weak euro versus the dollar decreases profits of goods
sold overseas.

"They are more naturally hedged from a currency standpoint
than peers and so most of them lowered numbers based on currency
and some on a more conservative outlook, but Perkin didn't have
to do that," said Macquarie Research analyst Jon Groberg.

Excluding items, the company earned 53 cents per share,
topping analysts' average expectations by 4 cents, according to
Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The maker of scientific instruments, medical testing
equipment and environmental safety monitoring products, posted a
net profit from continuing operations of $33.6 million, or 29
cents per share, compared with a profit of $29.1 million, or 26
cents per share, a year ago.

Not unexpectedly given the challenging economic conditions
in Europe, sales declined there in the quarter.

"At some point, the business has to match the headlines and
clearly in Q2 we started to see that," Friel said of Europe. "We
were down mid-single digits in Europe during the quarter and
that's our expectation for the remainder of the year."

He said sales in the Americas grew by mid-single digits and
that revenue from China was up by more than 20 percent.

"I think we will continue to see decent growth in the
Americas, and of course in the emerging markets, which
represented about 28 percent of revenue and contributed about
half of organic growth," he said, adding that South America,
particularly Brazil, continued to be quite strong.

"Those countries are really focused on environmental
concerns and improving healthcare, and we can help them there."

Based on strength in the first half of the year, Friel said
PerkinElmer would accelerate investments in the second half.

"We want to continue to build out our capability in the
emerging markets. We want to take some of the service offerings
we have in the U.S. and expand them into other geographic
regions," he said.

Friel said he was particularly pleased with the 17 percent
adjusted operating profit margin, an improvement of 240 basis
points over the year ago quarter.

Revenue rose 9 percent to $521.8 million, shy of Wall Street
estimates of $537 million. Organic revenue growth was 5 percent
after adjusting for acquisitions and the impact of foreign
currency translation, the company said.

"The revenue number was lower than some people expected, but
they were still able to beat on earnings pretty handily,"
Groberg said. "They have a plan in place to expand margins that
they seem to be executing on quite well, so the operating
margins came in over 100 basis points higher than expected."

The Human Health division saw sales jump 18 percent to
$258.4 million, largely due to the recent $600 million
acquisition of Caliper Life Sciences.